Abstract
South Africa’s local level of government is acknowledged by authors as the ‘heart’ of service delivery. Among its goals of merging municipalities is to ensure that rural towns are integrated into the development of municipal areas and have equal/equitable access to services. The integration of small/rural towns into municipalities should lead to an overall improved local economy. Local economic development (LED) involves different stakeholders participating, with the local government taking lead in planning and implementing strategies, programmes and policies that focus on improving living standards for its residents, the infrastructure, provision of basic services, addressing inequality challenges and improving the overall local economy through poverty alleviation and reduction in unemployment.
Nine participants in Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality (MMM) took part in semi-structured interviews for this technical research report, using a qualitative research methodology. According to the study, the municipality has several measures in place to carry out its constitutionally mandated developmental role in South Africa. These plans involve the construction of the N8 Corridor and the creation of an Agri-Hub in Thaba-Nchu, among other things. Some of the plans, like the re-development of Naval Hill and the airport node development plans, have been in place for more than a decade but have not yet been put into practice or are developing slowly.
Through its LED efforts, the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality's policies for developing the local economy are intended to guarantee the integration of the small and rural communities that joined the municipality in 2016. Though the LED initiatives continue to concentrate on advances in Bloemfontein, Thaba-Nchu, and Botshabelo years after the merger, the results demonstrate that the socioeconomic status of these towns has either worsened or stayed the same. Several have not even been integrated yet. The only improvement is the households’ access to basic utilities like water and electricity services for the residents of Wepener, Dewetsdorp, Van Stadensrus, and Soutpan because of the amalgamation of these municipalities. Based on the findings, this study recommends that the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality prioritise improving the infrastructure of these towns to attract investment and support for small businesses that have the ability of creating employment opportunities, it also recommends diversification of the local economy by encouraging different industries, thereby reducing dependency on a single sector such as agriculture. In addition, establishing skills development programmes and institutions would equip residents with essential skills, and they would not be forced to travel to Bloemfontein to reach tertiary education and other skills development facilities.